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"Ask ECB for a refund": Botham humiliates England after Ashes disaster at Gabba

Akshita Patel

Ian Botham criticises England [Source: @triplemcricket, @drivexpull/X.com]Ian Botham criticises England [Source: @triplemcricket, @drivexpull/X.com]

The nightmare run of England in the Ashes 2025/26 continues, and this time, even their legends have lost patience. After another crushing defeat against Australia in the second Test at the Gabba, former England great Ian Botham didn’t hold back and delivered a brutal verdict.

Australia defeated England within four days in Brisbane, extending their lead to 2-0 in the series. What shocked fans even more was the lack of fight shown by England. 

The first Test was over in just two days, and the second followed the same embarrassing pattern. England looked completely outplayed with both bat and ball, dropping chances and failing to build any momentum. 

Ian Botham urges fans to protest against the ECB

Ex-English cricketer Ian Botham summed up the frustration of many England supporters. He said that if he had paid money to watch this team play, he would be demanding a refund from the ECB. 

“If I was an England supporter and had paid the money to come here, I’d be asking the ECB for a refund. Because this team, for me, is not prepared," Botahm said on Triple M Cricket.

According to Botham, the biggest problem was that the team looked unprepared. He pointed out that England missed a huge opportunity by not sending their players to Canberra before the match to get some practice with the pink ball. 

“They missed a trick. They could’ve sent the team that was going to play in this Test to Canberra and had some experience with the pink ball. What do we do? ‘No, we don’t need to’. Well I suggest you do need to. You dropped five catches the other day. England could’ve been ahead,” he added.

Instead, England chose to stick to their own plans, and it clearly backfired. 

Brendon McCullum defiant despite Ashes fallout

However, England head coach Brendon McCullum defended the team’s preparation, saying that the players had actually trained too much before the match. 

He claimed that there were five intense sessions leading up to the Test and that overtraining may have been just as harmful as undertraining. However, for fans, these words offered very little comfort.

With Australia in complete control of the series and England’s confidence at an all-time low, serious questions are now being asked. Is this team mentally strong enough to make a comeback? Or are they heading for one of the most humiliating Ashes defeats in history?